Folksy Shop Update

I've just been listing some jewellery in my Folksy shop. I decided that it would be better to have them listed than have them sitting doing nothing in their box.

If you're looking for some little gifts, then please pop by my shop and see what's there. Hopefully a few more items will be going in over the next few days.

Time to do some housework now ! Fun, fun, fun!

Paper punches and polymer clay

Ever since I saw this wonderful technique using papercuts to emboss polymer clay, I knew I wanted to try this with my Tonic Studios paper punches.
I used a textured card and punched a variety of shapes to try out. The dark patches on the card are because this is after they have been used with the clay.

I really enjoyed the technique and made a few bits and pieces.

Cute little earrings with this butterfly paper punch.

While the card was still in place I used it like a stencil and rubbed on pearlex powders and glitter to get different effects.

These earrings are made with the branch part of the birdy punch.

I used a different texture of card for this one. Also with the birdy punch.

More birdy punch. This time with white pearlex powder on black clay. It makes the raised areas look silver leafed.

I used my flower punch for this one and added detail with my craft pick.

This one has glitter on the flower area and pearlex powders around it.

This time I added an organic looking centre to the flower by rolling tiny egg shapes and pressing them onto the clay with my craft pick.

I made a ring to match it. This one has circles on top of the egg shapes pressed with an empty ballpoint pen. It's supposed to look like flowers and leaves.

So If you like to play with polymer clay and you have some paper punches, then give this a try. It's great fun. I'll show you some of the buttons and card embellishments I've been making very soon.

Etsy Shop update

Hi, just wanted to let you know I am finally getting around to putting some things into my Etsy shop. Hopefully more will go in next week. 

My little girl will be going to school for the whole day as of next week. Think of all that time I'll have to start doing things once again. 9 o'clock until 3 o'clock. I am sure the time will fly by though, so I need to get myself a bit organised. 

You wouldn't believe the amount of time I waste just hunting for things for a project. I wish I had a special room only for my craft stuff. 

On that note, we have someone coming to view the house tomorrow. I am not holding out a huge amount of hope as they are still in the position of having to sell their property first, but at least we have some interest, so thank you Lord!


PS. Don't forget to enter my giveaway for a cute birdy paper punch. 

A jar for April - in June!

To make this pretty storage jar you will need...

A jar - I used a jar from Rowse honey. To cut a long story short it took me a LONG time to remove the label. So much so I even wrote to the company to complain about the excessive use of non water-soluble glue! Sad, I know!

You will also need one small block of white polymer clay. I used Fimo Soft for the first time. I'm not sure I'd use it again, I'm used to Primo Sculpey and I find it much easier to smooth and work with, but it was all that was available in my local craft shop, so I gave it a try.

Roll just under half of your block of clay into a ball and then roll flat using an acrylic rolling pin if you have one- or a nice smooth bottle or glass if you don't. Then mould your clay around the lid of your jar. I should just point out, it must be a metal lid here and not a plastic one otherwise you'll have meltdown! Smooth out any bubbles from the center outwards.

Trim off the excess as if you were trimming pastry off a pie dish, and then smooth the edges. I wasn't too happy with the way the fimo soft smoothed - or didn't so I found some old cotton lace and pressed it all around for a nice texture.

Bake the lid as per instructions on Clay packaging.I placed my lid on a piece of paper to bake.This prevents any shiny spots from baking on a metal tray.

Meanwhile, roll out some of the clay into a thin sausage and cut yourself lots and lots of slices. Roughly about the size of a small corn kernel. Press the pieces flat. To begin the rose take one piece and elongate it a little and roll it up to form the centre of the rose.

Now add petals all around and gradually build up until you have a pretty rose. I must point out here that there are many ways to make a rose. This is just one easy method. I am sure if there are some sugarcraft experts out there, they will know of better methods and they will probably cringe at my crude attempt!

Trim the bottom off the rose with a craft knife or clay cutter. Once your lid is baked and cooled press your finished rose onto the centre of the lid using a cocktail stick. Gently press the rose in place pressing the petals with a gentle touch from your fingers. If you are worried about stickability, you could use a small drop of liquid clay to aid adhesion, but I found that the Fimo Soft is quite good and sticky.

Gradually build up your design by adding more roses. You can do this in a regimented uniform way, or like me just randomly building up the design.

You can add leaves by making a teardrop shape and adding the veins with a cocktail stick or needle. I overlapped the edge of the lid with mine.

Spaces can be filled in by adding buds made by using the first curl of the rose. Now bake your lid as per instructions, allow to cool. Add a pretty label to your jar. ( I adapted one from the Graphics Fairy.)
...And you are done! I put cotton wool in mine for the bathroom. But you could use your jar for anything. Howabout a pretty jar of homemade peppermint creams? It would make a thoughtful gift. I used plain white Fimo, but if you wanted you could make your lid a colourful arrangement of blossoms, or if you make the base in pale blue and the roses in white, you could get a charming wedgewood effect. I'd love to see what you come up with. Do let me know if you try this out.

Ebony and ivory...

Hi there! I thought I'd fill you in on my crazy creative life this week.

On Thursday I am going to a fashion show run by a friend of mine. She is the manageress of a posh clothes shop. Thing is, I am supposed to be playing the piano for the show.

It's in a really lovely setting and it will be a beautiful piano - same as the one in the picture- such a treat to play- but I am busy trying to rack my brains to think of enough tunes that I know and can play to fill two 1 hour slots. I am mostly an ear player so I don't use music much. I hope she isn't too disappointed with me - at least I came cheap (free). My friend also asked me if I would like to have a table with my jewellery on it, and I can't possibly turn down an offer like that, so I have been busy making one or two new pieces and sorting out all that I have and thinking of ways to display it and price it etc.

Also, in keeping with the ebony ivory topic, I have been trying out a bottle of photomagic that a friend gave me about 15 years ago. It still works! This is going to be a cushion. I bought the linen a little while ago and have been wanting to try it out and see how it sews up. Does anyone have any tips for ironing linen? It seems like once you have washed it, it is virtually impossible to get it crease free. Maybe that's just the look of linen? Any opinions ?

more buttons...

I think I have that button making spurt out of my system for now- more or less. Thing is, now I am not so sure it is worth my effort listing them. Maybe on Artfire as it is free to list, so I guess I have nothing to lose. But if I don't get around to it and any of you crafters out there see something you like, then please drop me a line and I'll see what I can do for you. Custom buttons to go with a garment can be made as well if you can't find what you are looking for. Thing is, for all the time I put into making them, I am not really sure what I can charge. If you have any advice, please feel free to offer it!

Now, I really must do some writing...some sewing...some painting...some necklaces..some cooking...some tidying...some ironing (bleugh)...too many things to do, and not enough time to do them in. Anyone else have that problem?

Three little elephants...

Three little elephant pendants, off to explore the world. A wise old elephant named Emerald, and two young and inexperienced little girls, Ella and Elsie. I wonder where they will end up. The last two ended up in America - one of them went to Honolulu ! I wonder if he learnt how to play the ukulele? With his trunk !

New brooches

Here are some of my newest brooches. I'll be getting round to putting them in the shop sometime soon. I may even list them on Artfire. I feel encouraged - I just made my first sale with them yesterday. It is Free to list items there, so that's always a good thing!
The windows of the quirky little house glow in the dark!

Rain - something we get rather a lot of in Bonny Scotland!

Buttons!

Here are the first of my button collections. No, I know there are not very many of them, but I am not thinking of buttons down a cardigan, I am thinking more for embellishing a cuff or a neck piece, or a bag. Or even a handmade journal. What do you think?

I used a parrot feather to impress the clay here, and then added a strip. The scan doesn't quite show the iridescence.
These look dimensional, but are smooth. They are indented then covered with liquid clay.

Faux leather...I hope you could tell!

Hmmm...

I was playing around with the polymer clay and these pendants kind of happened, but I am not so sure about them...what do you think? My family just gave me that kind of response that doesn't do much for the vote of confidence. The response was "Hmmm!" I think the fact the pendant above has an unintentional scary face makes it a no no for selling, and the one below is just too weird. Ah well...back to the drawing board!

A Lovely Day

We had a special time yesterday when we visited our son in Glasgow. We trailed around a few shops - including Ikea - which was a real treat for me, and then we had grub at Pizza Hut before heading back to the Highlands. A good day was had by all, but it was a long day and we are all a bit tired today. I walked my feet off!
I bought this lampshade for my little girl's room. It is sooo cute!

Here is my son modelling his lab coat for us. That's my boy!!!

...And on a totally unrelated note, these are some buttons I made about 20 years ago. My mum had come across them and brought them with her last time she visited. I feel the urge to make some more buttons now. It will be interesting to see how they turn out. I think I have come a long way creatively speaking since then. I hope so anyhow.

I haven't shown you this yet, so I thought I would. It's the first in a series of polymer clay teapot brooches that I started on a while ago. The black and white design I drew on paper first and then printed it out on my laser printer and applied it to the clay. That is my three year olds hand showing it off (complete with grubby fingernails), so it actually not that big.

I have always loved to collect smooth beach pebbles and have painted on them for years. At one point, when we lived in Belize, I was painting local wildlife on them and selling them as souvenirs to tourists for a bit of extra cash.

I had intended painting all the garden birds on these rocks for Gabriella to play with, but I only ever got as far as drawing the outlines. I wonder if I will ever get around to painting them?
This is a tiny pebble I painted with a peacock butterfly. It was kind of fiddly to do at that size. In reality it is only about just under an inch long.